Balmain's Olivier Rousteing Talks Dressing First Ladies (Both French and American), What's Next for His Army, and More

Growing up, Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing fell in love with Los Angeles—the ever-present background of his beloved television shows and movies. So it's no surprise that, for the 31-year-old fashion darling, the opening of the French brand's first West Coat flagship is really more of a "homecoming." (After all, he's as comfortable on the streets of Paris as he is among the Hollywood crowd, seeing as he counts multiple Kardashians and other celebrities among his closet crew.) We found the designer making himself quite at home on a chaise in the perfectly appointed courtyard of Balmain's new West Hollywood boutique, which so happened to have been inspired by the vaulted ceilings, black marble, and Mediterranean decor of Pierre Balmain's Italian vacation villa. The fact that the 90210 soundtrack was playing on Rousteing's phone when Glamour sat down with him for an interview made the scene feel all the more on the nose.

We caught up with Rousteing on all the developments at Balmain since the brand's spring 2018 show, from dressing France's new First Lady (as well as the U.S.'s) to what’s next for his Instagram-famous Army. And yes, we asked him for a selfie in the new boutique—how could we resist? Read on for our very frank conversation with Balmain's top creative.

Glamour: Welcome to L.A.!

Olivier Rousteing: I’m so happy to be here.

Glamour: You've been dressing the Brigitte Macron, the First Lady of France, a lot recently. As a French designer, what does that mean to you?

OR: It’s amazing because it’s a bit like a dream. You see the First Lady and you have the chance to dress her—it’s a big achievement, not only as a designer but as a French citizen. What I love about my First Lady is she is so different and diverse from all the [other] Balmain Army girls. It shows how [the brand] is about diversity. When she started asking me for clothes, I was really, really proud—and proud of her husband as well, and the choice of France, politically. I think it’s about believing in the youth: [Emmanuel Macron] is not an old man; he has strong ideas, with, in a way, an unknown political background. I think it’s really important to show that meritocracy in France. I’m really proud of my country—they went against close-minded[ness], and they went for freedom.

Glamour: The conversation in the U.S. surrounding the wardrobe of the First Lady has shifted recently, and now there's a lot of debate between designers about whether they want to dress Melania Trump. She actually wore Balmain on the U.S.'s Election Day. What are your feelings about that? Is the situation similar in France?

OR: I think fashion is fashion: Sometimes you dress people that you don’t know, and sometimes you dress people that you actually know. Melania is an incredible, beautiful woman, but I don’t know her, and I’m not American, so I [don't feel that] I can talk about it. But I saw her come to France for the 14th of July, and I thought she and Brigitte Macron had a nice connection together. But I know more about the background and the story of Brigitte Macron—I think it's nice that Melania was wearing Balmain. It’s good.

Glamour: Now you have Brigitte Macron in the mix, but what's next for the Balmain Army?

OR: The Balmain Army is really spontaneous; there is no strategy. It’s all about welcoming women and men. I dress different body shapes, different ages. It’s uncontrollable, and it’s unstoppable. You never know who’s going to be the next character of the army, the next soldier—and that’s what I love. If you [had told] me two years ago, I would never believe that Brigitte Macron would wear Balmain; today she’s part of it, and that makes me really proud. But I can’t tell you who would wear Balmain. I can tell you who I wish could have worn Balmain….

Glamour: And who's that?

OR: There are two women that I am really in love with that I wish I could have dressed: The first one is Marilyn Monroe, and the second is Whitney Houston. [People] always ask me who’s going to be the next, and I never know, but I know I would love to have had [Marilyn and Whitney] wear Balmain.

Glamour: In addition to these shifting attitudes about dressing public figures, there have been so many changes within the fashion industry, especially in Paris, with many designers leaving brands. The designer landscape is very different from when you started. What do you make of all these shifts?

OR: If you really want my opinion, I don’t think there are so many changes. In a way, I think it’s not enough, from when I started school. There’s not such a big, strong new generation of designers—that's something that is missing in fashion. I wish there were more young people in the big houses, but sometimes it’s really hard for them to believe in the youth because they go for what’s the most expected. Balmain took a big risk [with me], and I’m really, really proud of my work today and my role in the house. But if I have to say, I wish fashion would have changed a bit more; obviously, there is change, but it’s not enough—for example, I don’t think there's enough diversity in fashion on the catwalk, in magazines. I really would love to push that more. Sometimes I feel fashion is not open-minded enough. We need to push the old crowd to believe in what I believe, in the new generation. I remember when I started, my campaigns and [and how I connected] my love for music with fashion were a tiny bit controversial because they were like, 'How can you bring hip-hop or music into a luxury world?' or 'How you can be so connected to digital and use social media in luxury world?' Now it's changed, obviously, for the best, but I still think that we could push a bit more.

Glamour: Why do you think it's so valuable to have younger voices in fashion leading these established houses?

OR: It’s freedom. I think the only word I can use [to describe] what I’m doing today is feeling free. Of course, it’s a business—it’s about money at the end of the day, but it’s about ideas as well. When you treat fashion only like a business, you’re not going to go anywhere; when you push [on that], we have the chance to express ourselves. We can use our art to become political, to become something you want to talk about. We [make] clothes, but we have the chance to change a generation as well. We have to remember that fashion changed the roles of men and women: When [Yves] Saint Laurent was putting pants on a woman, he was not only [doing that]—he was assuming the fact that a woman can wear pants like a man. It’s all the codes that I think fashion pushed so much to change the world, and today it’s what I’m trying to do in my own way.

Glamour: And doing it very well! You always have an incredible crew of muses, who inspire your designs. Who's inspiring you right now?

OR: I’ve really been inspired by the Paris ballet. I had the chance to work on the Opéra of the French institution, Opéra Garnier. Then, [in terms of musicians,] who's really inspiring me still is Michael Jackson. He’s timeless to me. The fact that he wanted to break the rules, that he was always talking about a new world, a global world—“Black or White,” “They Don’t Care About Us,” “Heal the world. Make it a better place”—with this charisma, that always touched me. I’m obsessed with the fact that he went so political. He became a legend, and today I think he’s still the King of Pop.

Glamour: Any members of Generation Z catching your eye? The fashion industry has recently become obsessed with this generation….

OR: It’s such a great question, but at the same time, if I’m honest with you, I think always looking for "the Millennial" is getting old. These last three years, obviously it was all about Millennials and Instagram and who had the followers who is talking to the new generation—it's important, but I think the question of who is going to be next isn't cool anymore. Now it’s more about connections. You see so many houses looking for who's going to be the next Millennial without having any connection to or friendship with [that generation]. When I create my Balmain Army—yes, they were Millennials, but I believed in them. There's really friendship; whereas today I think a lot of brands are trying so hard to find who's going to be next without creating anything, and it's not helping [them]. What I'm doing now is having people with and around me to build what other designers built before—like Pierre Balmain with Josephine Baker, Audrey Hepburn, Dalida, Brigitte Bardot. It’s all about making sure your friendships are real. This is more important than who’s going to be the next Millennial, because Millennials means everything and nothing at the same time.

Glamour: Let's talk a bit about your dresses. Your approach to body-con brought back this seminal "going-out" look. Is there a particular outfit that really stands out to you as the iconic party outfit?

OR: Kim [Kardashian]'s bachelorette dress, which was an embroidery from my second season at Balmain, from my "Fabergé" collection. This dress became really iconic because it was from the moment I met Kim and started to create and customize clothes for her. This is a dress I'll always remember because it symbolized, to me, the beginning of so many things: the fact that I can bring couture to the street, that I believe in someone that I love and is my friend, and that this is what fashion is.

Glamour: Nostalgia's another big trend in fashion. Is there a piece of clothing or accessory from the past that you hope makes a comeback soon?

OR: I would say the pointy bra, because I'm obsessed with lingerie and would love to see more [of it] in fashion. Sometimes being too sexy is called “vulgar"—it would be amazing to bring lingerie to couture. I would love to see more girls wearing lingerie on the street, assuming that lingerie is not about the night anymore but about the day.

Glamour: Something to look forward to! Now we're at your new L.A. store, and we have to ask: What's the most Instagrammable location in this Balmain location?

OR: Next to the mirrors. There is an amazing [wall of] mirrors, and I love this because it reminds me of France, like Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.